Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

This paper outlines the results of some research into three former county council services - primary education, minor roads and rural health services - taken over by the central government in 1970. It describes the organization of these services under the county councils and examines the financial relationships between the councils, and the centre, drawing attention to the way in which the system worked to encourage "crisis financing" on the part of the councils. It then considers the impact of the transfer of functions on each of the three services, and relates this to the general pattern of service provision in rural Kenya, and the interaction between local initiatives ("self-help") and government action.